Choosing next tank question

So looking at my next tanks and I'm wondering which way to go. I'm looking at the 40g breeder and 75g next time the local pet store does the $1 per gallon sale.

75g 48" long x 18" wide x 21" high surface area of 864"
40g 36" long x 18" wide x 16" high surface area of 648"

The big difference is how high the tank is, I don't plan on keeping angels or discus so that is not as important to me as the surface area for gas exchange.

The 75g is long so it has the advantage of allowing for bigger fish and more room for that fish to swim.

The 40g is almost half the price so I could get two tanks, meaning I could get 80g of water and 1,296" of surface area so I could put more fish in the tanks but they would need to be smaller fish.

I was thinking about getting four 75g tanks but it would be easier to build racks for 40g and would be easier to place them in the fish room. If I don't get any 75g it would limit the fish I can get later so maybe I could get two 75g and four 40g tanks.

My questions
What American cichlids can I keep in a 40g breeder tank?
What am I missing with my though process?

The fish I'm interested in are Convict cichlids, Bolivian Ram, and Blue Acara. I think all of those will fit in the 40g or less and I already have a few empty tank 20g & 29g tanks that would work for a pair. I also want another Oscar but already have the tank for him.

If I go with four 75g I'm not sure I can get them on my wall and still get into the room without covering too much of the door way.

I remember the good old days where I was worried about where to put that 20g tank or extra 10g.

Yoimbrian said:

Go with a single 200+ gallon. I bet you can find one on Craigslist for the price of 4 75s.


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I have been watching Craigslist for a while nothing bigger than 100g shows up and if it does they want stupid money. I got my 125g for a great deal but it was a friend of a friend.

bawb said:

The thing you may be missing, is the $1 a gal sale that I've seen only goes up to a 55 gallon.
I would get a double stacked 40 breeder to start out. While whatever fish you decide on are small, this will work fine.
While they are growing out, you have time to save up for the next $1/gal sale, and buy a pair of 55 gallons.

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I know most places do it that way but one of the local shops does it up to 75g. I thought about 55g but I don't like those that much I have a pair and the fish do fine but I feel the 13" is pretty narrow.

UncleZ said:

Another thing to consider is whether you will be breeding or want to get the fry that might appear. Keeping fry alive and well in bigger tanks is very hard. So smaller tanks would be useful for that.

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Didn't think about that, While I don't plan on doing a huge amount of breeding I would like to keep that option there just in case.